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Encore Boston Harbor Delighted With Job Fair Turnout

As Melissa Perez has watched the Encore
Boston Harbor casino get taller and taller, she never dreamed she might work
there one day.

On Monday, Perez, 26, stood with a smile
from ear to ear at the Encore Job Fair in the Hynes Convention Center, reveling
in the good news that she likely would be hired as a pastry chef.

“I knew it would bring a lot of employment
opportunities for a lot of people,” she said. “I voted for it thinking about
the future. Now they are wanting to hire 5,000 people here at this fair. That’s
a really big number to think about. I was all for it from the beginning, and it
feels really, really good to think I have a good chance to be part of it. I’m
excited to see what they have in store.”

Perez was one of thousands of potential
employees, particularly from Everett, Charlestown, Chelsea and Malden, that
flooded the Hynes Convention Center in the Back Bay last Sunday and Monday
looking for possible employment at the casino – which is offering some 5,000
jobs in 500 different categories, and they’re jobs that need to be filled and
ready by the June 23 opening date.

Perez’s enthusiasm was shared by many, and
Encore President Bob DeSalvio said that the long-promised job opportunities
have now become reality.

“The message is, it worked,” he said on
Monday. “I was extremely impressed by the quality of applicants we saw on
Sunday. We saw so many people from Everett, Chelsea, Charlestown, Boston,
Medford and Malden. So many people had hoped to get an opportunity, and to see
it become a reality now is really impressive. All the planning meetings and all
the information for years that we’ve put out, it became real.”

DeSalvio said they had concerns of whether
they could find the right people in the right numbers, but he said after this
first fair, he no longer is so concerned. Many of the people they interviewed,
he said, were already employed.

“I think what we’re seeing is folks looking
to trade up,” he said. “Every single person I interviewed Sunday was already
employed. There was a few who were in between jobs or had been laid off, but
most of the folks I saw were already in a job and looking for their next
opportunity.”

Like Perez, DeSalvio said applicants from
the Everett and Chelsea communities were interested in being closer to home.

“The people I spoke to were very happy about
a shorter commute,” he said. “Commuting has been a very big deal for people
trying to get time for their family and their lives. They liked the idea of the
bus lane and getting jobs where they could be close and take the bus to work.”

DeSalvio said they interviewed for nearly
every position, from hotel workers to food and beverage workers to banquet
supervisors to finance positions.

In the area of finance, DeSalvio said he was
surprised by the vast numbers of folks looking for an opportunity with Encore.

“We had an exceptional turnout for
accountants (and finance),” he said, noting that they had many from the banking
industry show up for their openings.

He said they were also just looking for
talented people – even if they weren’t right for the job they wanted, DeSalvio
said they wouldn’t let them slip away.

“We’re trying not to let really good
candidates slip out the door,” he said. “If the job they are looking for isn’t
right, we can shift them to other similar areas.”

The job fair was the first of three that are
planned for the Hynes, and the usual Encore energy was transferred to the Back
Bay facility from the first step inside.

Applicants were greeted at the front lobby
of the main hall to check in or register if they were walk-ins. If one did not
have a resume printed or created, there were places on hand to get that done
before going inside.

Once inside, pulsating music sounded from a
live DJ in one of the back waiting rooms, while candidates registered and got
their number for the initial interview. After that process, they progressed to
a waiting room with comfortable couches, the live DJ, a dance floor and fresh
flowers. It was there they waited for their specific job interviews – with the
DJ calling their number over the music when it was time for them to interview.

Encore didn’t hire any special company to do
the interviews, but rather they had all hands on deck, with current employees –
including DeSalvio – handling the interview processes. Current employees from
food and beverage interviewed prospective candidates from those areas.

If all went well, candidates could leave
with a good assurance that they would be hired – though no jobs were given on
site.

DeSalvio said they already have 400
employees on board, and they have another 1,100 that are already in the queue.

“We need about another 3,500 and we saw
2,100 people on Sunday,” he said. “I think we’ll do quite well on Monday too.
Based on the numbers of applicants we’ve seen, it tells me we can get there. As
long as we keep up this pace at the other hiring events.”

He also added they have been very pleased
with the success of the dealer school at Cambridge College in Charlestown. They
have about 150 that have graduated and the next session is full already.

“That’s going to be 300 folks that will have
gone through and be ready for employment as a dealer on day one,” he said.
“That is excellent. The instructors tell me they are quality students. They are
learning the game and infusing the culture of the company too…It’s not just the
mechanics of the game, but how we treat our guests.”

From the point of hiring, those who are
“onboarded” will have a series of licenses from the state or qualifications to
get through. Once that is done, they will begin reporting for their jobs in
late May and early June – with some of the culinary positions starting in late
April.

DeSalvio said they will go through extensive
on-site training because things have to be perfect when they open. While there
will always be mistakes, at the five-star level, a resort has to be top quality
on day one.

“I has to be ready,” he said. “That’s one
reason we bring folks on so early.”

Encore plans to
have another large hiring event at the Hynes Convention Center in mid-March.